London, May 30: South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir scripted his name in the history books on Thursday as he became the first spinner to bowl the first ball of a World Cup.
After electing to bowl against England in the opening match at The Oval, South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis surprised everyone by bringing in Tahir to bowl the first over. Eoin Morgan Completes 7000 ODI Runs in ENG vs SA ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 Match at The Oval.
Tahir too, grabbed the opportunity with both hands as he dismissed England opener Jonny Bairstow (0) off just his second delivery. Bairstow failed to read Tahir's googly and moved forward to defend it, but ended up giving a catch to stumper Quinton de Kock.
Prior to this, New Zealand great Martin Crowe had surprised everyone in the 1992 cricket World Cup by bringing off-spinner Dipak Patel into the attack in the second over. Patel bowled the second over in his side's clash with Australia, which the Kiwis won by 37 runs.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 30, 2019 06:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).